This invention relates to a method and apparatus for treating the body.
The apparatus of the invention uses low-intensity light to treat disorders of biological tissues, and more practically, provides a computer-controlled system including self-adhesive multiple probes and wands for applying bio-energy to the body. The invention also relates to methods of using low-intensity light for medical therapy, combining key principles from different areas of medicine.
Since the time of “the father of western medicine,” Hippocrates, light and energy have been used to treat biological problems. More recently, N. R Finsen, “the father of contemporary photo-therapy”, used red and ultraviolet to treat lupus vulgaris, pockmarks, and other skin diseases. However, ultraviolet must be used with caution, because it is an ionizing radiation that has the potential for damaging biomolecules.
Today, light sources are used in both the visible and the near infrared (and thus invisible) portion of the electromagnetic spectrum to provide medical therapy. Such light sources provide both coherent and polarization modes (e.g., laser diodes) and non-coherent modes (e.g., super luminous diodes).
As reported by Karu in “Photo-biological Fundamentals of Low Power Laser Therapy”, IEEE Journal Quantum Electronics QE-23, 10:1703-1987, photo-biological and clinically significant reaction responses of cells have been induced by non-coherent, non-polarized, monochromatic light. Laser beams penetrate deeper into the tissue, scattering quickly and losing the coherence and polarization properties which distinguish lasers from non-laser light diodes. Electromagnetic wavelengths in the range of 400-2000 nm (both visible and invisible irradiation) provide non-ionizing radiation that does not induce mutagenic or carcinogenic effects. After over twenty years of clinical application of low-intensity light therapy, according to David Baxter (Therapeutic Lasers. P. 62, 1997), to date no serious side effects have been reported in the literature.
There are bio-energy light and heat generating apparatus combining both optical (visible) and infrared (invisible) with wavelengths ranging from 360 nm to 1,380 nm. Prior patents disclosing such devices include Nos. 4,232,678, 4,930,504, 5,500,009, 5,766,233, 5,800,479, and 4,535,784. Such devices may include a laser, laser diodes, or light emitting diodes to produce bio-energy which does not have a the potential for biological reaction in cells as does ionizing radiation in ultraviolet lights.
Devices for stimulating biological tissue using low-intensity light energy to stimulate acupuncture points are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,013,096, 6,238,424; 6,063,1089; 6,471,716; and 6,074,411(Lai et al.), which describes multi-diodes, self-adhesive using holder to attach diode modules onto patient's body. However, Lai's design can produce inaccuracy in terms of the thickness changes to the actual depth of acupuncture points. Furthermore, by placing a diode laser module into a counterbored hole in a holder, that device has difficulty maintaining an exact illumination 90° angle because the holder is made of soft, plastic foam paper.
For ideal biological tissue stimulation, a combination of wavelengths must be used to achieve illumination to specific depths at acupuncture points and to stimulate several tissue layers to the specific depths simultaneously. A third LED is added to the wand to produce therapeutic heat as moxibustion in TCM of specific light color of color therapy principles. Plural probes and wands provide the ability to treat a number of symptoms by simultaneously stimulating a plurality of acupuncture points. The probes and wands are made self-adhesive with a double-sided, non-allergenic tape to avoid the inconvenience of hand-held models (with which inconsistent radiation can result from movements of the practitioner/patient during treatment). The apparatus also saves time by treating more than one area at once.
A benefit of the present invention is that if the depth of an acupuncture point is variable, a practitioner can set a specific depth of each point in controlling software, providing more accurate treatment at that point's location. A fixed preset illumination depth (for example 3 cm depth, as in the Lai design) is not correct for all acupuncture points. For example, a hand acupuncture point is much closer to the surface than an acupuncture point located at the thigh of a patient.
Whereas prior devices required one to set a single time for all treatments, the present invention provides for variable treatment times. To fulfill the principles of TCM, the practitioner needs to stimulate each TCM acupuncture point by one of the following choices: tonify, sedate or even method. The present invention is built to control the frequency, intensity, dosage, and pulsing of light to satisfy these principle requirements. Pulsing the emissions not only affects the stimulation/inhibition of the biological tissue reaction; it also increases the life span of the treatment unit compared to continuously emitting models.
Taking the incident radiation and angle of reflection into account, the exact location of acupuncture point will be somewhat relative only. So another object of this invention is to minimize human errors in the complicated setting of depths (depending on area), frequencies, intensities, and dosages.
An apparatus according to this invention is an automated system, like a small computer, with specific operating software. Practitioners need only select a certain part or treatment area of the body; then the software automatically sets the frequency, intensity, and dosage and memorizes the settings for the next time. While the automatic mode is particularly convenient for the practitioner, the invention also provides an optional manual mode, allowing for more flexibility in treatment.
An important advantage is that the probes and wands may be started and stopped at the same time, so that they stimulate the body simultaneously to create an ideal effect, considering that the human body is an integrated system.
The invention combines techniques and methods from several different areas of medicine into an inventive treatment method. It also enables one to apply acupuncture and moxibustion to regulate Qi in TCM, or Prana in Ayurvedic, or vital life force of Hippocrates, without using metal needles or burning wools.
One can stimulate the production of certain hormones and enzymes, without the complication of injecting synthesized materials, by placing the plural probes and wands at specific glands'anatomical location to affect the endocrine system. By using LEDs of five different colors (such as white, blue, green, red, and yellow), one can perform color therapy. According to the TCM, these colors correspond to the five elements of the world. Red and infrared diodes are absorbed by the skin, muscles, tissues, and bones and work at the cellular level. The color red represents the element fire, or the cardiovascular system. Yellow represents the element earth, and provides a neutral/central balance state of the body, as related to the stomach. The yellow lights can be a great stimulant for the nervous system as well as toning muscles (spleen dominates muscle according to TCM). White represents the metal element and transformation of the body system that relates to your lung system, especially allergies. Blue represents the water element that relates to the kidney and your willpower; it is best for calming and gives a relaxing effect on treatment therapy. Green represents the wood element in TCM, which relates to the liver, tendons, and emotional state (stress), harmonizing the bio-electromagnetic energy field that surrounds our body.
Light is bio-energy that moves in a wave pattern. For this reason, the inventive method incorporates sound therapy's wave patterns, which harmonizes the endogenous rhythm of the organs and provides a new generation of therapy to enhance the natural building process of biological tissues.
The method and apparatus treat the body with bio-energy light and heat for various conditions. Using this bio-energy light and heat, the apparatus applies energy to patients for the benefits of healing. As modern quantum physics teaches us that all matter is composed of vibrating packets of energy (quanta) that appear to us as particles, so bio-electromagnetic energy is present in all living things with its own specific frequency range, both measurable (frequency of electromagnetic spectrum, such as light (color) and sound) and unmeasurable by conventional scientific methods. We live in a world that is surrounded and affected by the various interconnected magnetic fields of energy. According to Oriental medicine (Ayurvedic and Traditional Chinese Medicine), a human being is a whole, a small universe that is composed of a body, mind, and spirit in a state of harmony including the free flow of invisible vital energy (life force), known as Qi in TCM and Prana in Ayurvedic, throughout the body. Illness is understood to be a result of the disharmonization of energy. BELG medicine aims to restore the harmonious interaction of energy within the patients and their environment by using the inventive bio-energy light and heat device and BELG method. Instead of injecting healthy cellular materials into the body to promote regeneration in cells, BELG method and its devices provide a non invasive stimulation at cellular level without the complication of injection and cell rejection. At the same time, if stimulated at the endocrine system, restoration of the balance of natural hormone/enzymes will be restored without the actual procedure of hormone/enzyme replacement therapy. Through BELG method, energy and light/colored light therapy applies the color principle, which corresponds to the five elements of TCM, including the benefits from the color spectrum.
BELG methods and devices are the perfect answer for oriental medicine. The invention is especially able to regulate and harmonize the vital life force known as Qi in TCM/Prana in Ayurvedic without using a metal needle or burning moxa wool for heat. In other words, energy, light (colored light) and sound therapy are similar because all of them are just different types of wavelengths that generated light beam through the inventive equipment for therapy purposes.
At the same time, neural therapy can be carry out to remove short circuits in the human's electrical network in the absence of anesthetic injection. Another important aspect of BELG method and devices is its ability to incorporate longevity medicine into the practice. By balancing the biochemistry of aging (such as stress hormones/enzymes helicase) as well as enhancing cell functions to boost up immune system, the aging process may be slowed. The invention also relates to the equipment for stimulating mammal tissue with bio-energy light and heat therapy. The equipment has a power source and a central microprocessor that controls twelve other probes and wands to provide bio-energy. The invention works like a small computer with preset protocols for exact frequency, intensity, and time of specific probes/wands to be activated, in order to eliminate human error. Another unique feature is that practitioners are able to select a variety of preset protocols or set their own preferred selections.